IMHO, SLI is only worth it on top-end cards (8800) and if you have money. Even then, the performance gained per cost is not good.
If you're definitely not going to do SLI in the future and need to buy right now, then yea, 1950 pro is the way to go.
I you are considering SLI, you might want to wait about a month for the 8600. It's DX10 compatible and should edge out 1950 pro by a good margin in DX9.
SLI really only makes it worth while to crank up the FSAA and AF at higher resolutions and maximum detail, unless you play alot of Oblivion and even then you'd be better off with a X1950 XT/XTX rather than paying near the same for two 7600GTs. Simply put it's not worth it with the cards you want to get - especially with the 8900GS (near 8800 GTS perf) being around a month or two away for only $200.
If you really can't wait and you want to get something get a 7950 GT. Should be faster than 2 7600 GT cards anyways.
He could play those games with a single 7600GT or 1650XT easily.
Don't put power where you don't need it.
What size monitor?
Anything 7600GT/1650XT or up can play HL2/CSS at max settings. BUT, when you put 20" monitors and AA/AF into the equation, we start to have more variables.
Any size screen with full AA/AF, a 1950 Pro or over-clocked 7900GS will handle CSS/HL2 no problem.
Why do people say are only going to play a few certain games.
I thought that when I decided I wanted to upgrade my existing computer to play all the games I had missed over the years, but I thought that that would be a waste of money as my computers with a cheapish midrange card would not play many (if any) future games.
So I decided to spend quite a bit of money that would give me a system that would be able to play yesterdays games and hopefully play future games on resonable settings for a good 2 years at least.
Stating the obvious here, but PC components are expensive (for me) and I dont want to waste £80 just to play a couple of particular games.
So in your case, oswold, a better video card would be justified. But not in the OP's case...
Well bottom line, forget about SLI first of all, second if the only games you'll want to play with that computer are CS:S and HL2 then a single 7600GT would be enough, but if you want to try some of the newer games then definitely stretch out for a X1950PRO, X1950XT or 8800GTS 320MB, depending on your budget.
He could play those games with a single 7600GT or 1650XT easily.
Don't put power where you don't need it.
What size monitor?
Anything 7600GT/1650XT or up can play HL2/CSS at max settings. BUT, when you put 20" monitors and AA/AF into the equation, we start to have more variables.
Any size screen with full AA/AF, a 1950 Pro or over-clocked 7900GS will handle CSS/HL2 no problem.
yeah never thought of that i have a 20" samsung widescreen mate so i wanted something a little pokier for the near future
Hey man I hear yah,I bought a 7950gt to play C*C Generals and now 12 games later I can't stop playing CoH,I may have to go to China for some of their treatment for online gaming addiction.
for any amount of long term gaming, youll probably want a DX10 capable gpu (an 8800GTS 320 is the cheapest currently)... theres no DX10 games out yet, but itll be nice knowing you at least can have DX10 functionality if you ever did decide to play a DX10 based game (plus any DX9 and older games will play pretty smooth too)... this way you wont have to worry about SLIing 2 mid range cards, and getting less performance than the single card offers anyhow... this assuming you might switch over to vista eventually too
He could play those games with a single 7600GT or 1650XT easily.
Don't put power where you don't need it.
What size monitor?
Anything 7600GT/1650XT or up can play HL2/CSS at max settings. BUT, when you put 20" monitors and AA/AF into the equation, we start to have more variables.
Any size screen with full AA/AF, a 1950 Pro or over-clocked 7900GS will handle CSS/HL2 no problem.
I'm guessing he wants room for future expansion? Doesn't hurt when you don't have to buy a new card every time you switch games.
sli is pretty much worthless on lower end cards and i could actually get a single card solution for a lot less than the price of two cards. I hear what you say about future proofing and my project is probably another month or two from completion anyway so prices will tumble but the initial question i asked has been answered so thank you all.
100% agree about the performance difference... THG really needs up update their interactive charts too, but for the OP, heres a comparison between the 8800GTS 640 and 2 7600GTs in sli (the 8800GTS 640 is pretty close to the 320 in performance)
yeah never thought of that i have a 20" samsung widescreen mate so i wanted something a little pokier for the near future
Nice. I pretty much have the same build as you, except for slower 667MHz Corsair ram. I also have a 20" Samsung widescreeen; SyncMaster 205BW (what one u got? =D) and I have a Sappire Radeon X1950Pro. I don't play HL2 but I do play CSS. I average about 80-115fps at the monitors native resolution with all settings up high & AAx4 and 2xAF. On larger servers like 48 slot the fps is more like 40-60 but it's normally in normally hangs around 90 for the most part. I am very happy with the results.
Btw, I tried pushing absolutely everything up in the video settings just to see what fps I'd get in CS:S and the results were amazing. 24 slot server All settings up high AFx8 6xAA and it hangs around 70-90fps.
Any other games I play I can play with all settings up high and the card performs well Rome Total War, Medeval 2 Total War, GTA San Andeeas, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.
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